Friday, 21st January 2011
Silence on Camp Ashraf is not golden
[Published on The Independent website, Friday January 21, 2011]
On 7th January 21 buses rolled up to the gates of Camp Ashraf in Northern Iraq, home to 3,400 Iranian dissident refugees. Rumours had been rife that a new assault on the camp was imminent, following a meeting in Baghdad two days earlier when the Iranian foreign minister reiterated his regime’s demand for the annihilation of the Ashraf refugees, who are regarded by Tehran as their only serious political opponents. The buses disgorged gangs of paid agents of the Fascist regime in Iran, who pretended to be local villagers protesting at the continued presence of the Iranian dissidents, despite the fact they have lived peacefully in Ashraf for the past 25 years.
This thuggish mob, many wearing Iraqi military uniforms, organised, motivated, financed and inspired by the Iranian mullahs and endorsed by their lickspittle cohorts in Baghdad, began a relentless assault on the camp, hurling stones, bottles, metal bars and petrol bombs at the defenceless residents, injuring 175, including 83 women. This latest assault has marked a new chapter in the dark history of human rights abuse in the Middle East. The attack, un-challenged by the Iraqi security forces, comes on top of an earlier deadly assault on the camp in July 2009, which left 11 dead, hundreds injured and many kidnapped and illegally imprisoned.
The West, meanwhile, stands idly by, wringing its hands in mock horror. We make great speeches in the European Parliament attacking those who abuse human rights and giving grand rewards like the Sakharov Prize to those who defend freedom and democracy at their personal cost. But when it comes to taking action on issues like Ashraf we fail to deliver. Our taxpayers have pumped more than £800 million into the rebuilding of Iraq at a time of austerity in Europe and yet we give this money with no demands for good governance or justice.
That is why the 3400 refugees in Camp Ashraf, many of them women, have been terrorised for the past two years, subjected to physical and mental abuse, denied access to medical care and allowed to die of treatable illnesses. That is why we have watched as day and night, these innocent refugees have suffered the psychological torture of 180 loudspeakers erected around the camp's perimeter fence, blaring endless propaganda and abuse at a decibel level designed to drive people insane.
An overwhelming majority of MEPs have twice now declared their support for the residents of Ashraf in parliamentary resolutions and demanded an end to their repression and abuse and recognition of their rights as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. But our demands have been answered by an escalation of orchestrated violence against the innocent residents of the camp.
Of course the motivation behind the attacks is clear. The unarmed residents of Camp Ashraf are openly opposed to the vile Iranian tyranny. They represent the frontline of resistance to that despotic and corrupt regime and as such, are easy targets for a vicious Iranian government determined to bend its compliant Iraqi neighbours to its will.
Such is the hatred of the Iranian regime for the Ashraf residents that they have even started to execute the parents of some of the young refugees. Sixty three year old Ali Sarami was hanged at dawn on Tuesday, December 28, 2010. He was accused of the crime of visiting his son in Camp Ashraf. This visit to his son and trumped up charges alleging he was involved in ‘publicity activities against the sacred rule of the Islamic Republic’, were enough to ensure his appointment with the gallows.
The mullahs even subjected Mr Sarami to the most hideous and brutal torture prior to his execution in an attempt to break his spirit, but he remained steadfast and resolute to the end, even saying “They cannot frighten me and my freedom-loving compatriots by execution and hanging... The only reason for such sentences is their fear of their own unstable state”.
The depravity of the mullahs knows no bounds. Their evil administration now regularly tortures and executes men, women and children simply for showing any form of opposition to their corrupt rule. But there is no doubt that the foundations of their rule are crumbling. They recognize the end is near and in their desperation they are lashing out at any and all opponents of their malevolent regime. That is why we are witnessing the opening salvo in an unequal struggle which will certainly lead, inexorably, to a massacre, as the heavily armed and well paid agents of Tehran continue to assault Camp Ashraf without challenge.
Those of us who value human rights; who value freedom and democracy and who value the ultimate victory of good over evil must now let our voices be heard. We cannot tolerate this abuse any longer. The European Parliament expressed its will by a massive majority last month in support of Camp Ashraf. It is now up to Baroness Ashton as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs to take action. She must speak out, otherwise her silence will be seen as an act of weakness by the EU and all of us will be tarnished by any further bloodshed that we fail to prevent. If we allow this to happen we will forever hang our heads in shame.
Speak out now, Baroness Ashton. Condemn those who attack the Ashraf refugees. Demand action from the US military who guaranteed the safety of every Ashraf resident and then walked away. Tell the Iraqi government that they will be judged on their conduct towards the innocent refugees in Ashraf and warn Iran that their evil meddling in the affairs of their neighbours in the Middle East will hasten their ultimate downfall.
Silence is not golden...it is reprehensible!
STRUAN STEVENSON MEP
Struan Stevenson is a Conservative Euro MP for Scotland. He is President of the Delegation for Relations with Iraq in the European Parliament and President of the Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup.
